Dubai: Danish coach Michael Novek, who has been involved with badminton for the past 30 years and was a key member of two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen’s team, has expressed his admiration for the UAE’s emerging talent. expressed. The 53-year-old believes the country has the potential to become number one in the world in badminton in the near future.
“Badminton in the whole world is dominated by six or seven countries in Asia and a little bit from Europe, Denmark, France and Spain. That’s it. I believe the future will be different. Ten years from now, , many countries will be at the top of the badminton world tour. And my dream, and I think it’s realistic, is for the UAE to be number one in the world. We’re bringing in the best, and now that I’m here, we’re going to start bringing in the best from Denmark and Europe.”With the combination of those two and my own experience in the UAE, we’ll be in fifth or sixth place. Don’t dream of becoming No. 1 in the world, the possibilities are here,” Novek told Gulf News as the UAE team prepared. The World Junior Championships will be held in Nanchang, China from September 30th to October 13th.
The UAE badminton team is training under coach Michael Noveck for the upcoming World Junior Championships in China. Image credit: Virendra Saklani/Gulf News
top rank
The eight-man UAE team touring China also includes several promising junior players who attended a two-week high-performance camp at the Prime Star Excellence Center in Qusais. The UAE are currently ranked seventh in the tournament, ahead of India (8th) and South Korea (9th). In Group D, the UAE will face Denmark, New Zealand, Cook Islands and Trinidad and Tobago. China is at the top of the seeding ranking, followed by Thailand in second place.
โThe good thing about Dubai is that it is located right between Asia and Europe. The next challenge for the UAE Badminton Federation is to continue its growth and take its players to the next level. Badminton, like tennis and golf, is very complex, so we need a lot of support and we need to chart a path to the Olympics, whether it’s 2028 or 2032. This camp is a pilot project and we hope that more support will be provided in the future,” Novek added.
nova
UAE players have made rapid progress on the world stage, especially since the 2022 Badminton Asian Mixed Team Championships. Seventeen-year-old Bharath Ratheesh leads the pack, currently ranked fifth after holding the top spot in the world junior rankings earlier this year. . Other members of the UAE team include Dev Vishnu, Dhiren Ayyappan, Dev Ayyappan, Meesha Omer Khan, Taveer Khan, Sakshi Prakash Kulbukhergi and Talalakshmi Karthikeyan.
โSome of these players are between the ages of 14 and 18 who are already on the senior tour.The superstar in the UAE right now is Ballas, he is doing great and is reaching his peak in China. ‘It’s very exciting. There are also 3 boys and 4 girls working hard. This is a team event so it will be interesting to see if we can improve. UAE is a new federation and ranking 7th in this championship is already a great achievement. โ
high performance camp
There are nine people in this camp including Riyan Malhan, Adithya Kiran, Nathan Mathew, Steve Mathew, Jeebakkar, Madhumisa Sundarapandian, Zainaba Reem Siraj, Emiratis Abdul Aziz Yahya and Ghadia. Promising junior players also participated.
The two-week full-time camp consisted of two sessions each day focused on intensive training, followed by a recovery session.
“From my 30+ years of experience, I can say that these players have great potential. They are currently among the top junior players and can get even better. Next steps to move to senior level and participate in the World Tour. I’m looking forward to seeing how they perform against China and especially against Denmark. I fully support the UAE side,” Novek said. Concluded.